Jefferson rallies behind QB Shirreffs, seniors

In the 30-plus years that T. McFerrin has coached high school football in Georgia, he’s had teams here and there that began the season as decided underdogs.

But only twice in his career has he had teams finish their respective campaigns under .500.

He’s certainly not characterizing this year’s edition of the Jefferson Dragons as underdogs, but McFerrin is faced with a compelling challenge — the 2012 team is the most inexperienced squad he’s had in his four years at the school. But it’s not something he hasn’t faced before.

“As a coach, you have to be positive and you don’t lower your expectations,” McFerrin said. “Our goal is the same as it’s been every year I’ve coached — to win the region and go to the playoffs and be successful. I won’t change that at all. Right now, our players aren’t cocky, but they feel they’ve got a chance and they expect to win because we’ve won here before.”

The Dragons return five offensive starters this fall, most notably quarterback Bryant Shirreffs, who completed 129 of 208 passes for 1,873 yards and 19 touchdowns last season. McFerrin pointed out that at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, Sheriff is bigger than several of his offensive linemen.

Owing to an undersized offensive front, it’s likely that Shirreffs will put the ball in the air more frequently in 2012.

“Last year we were a pretty good power team because we had some big linemen,” McFerrin said. “We could rush off the tackles and right up the middle, and we had some pretty good size and pretty good balance. Due to our situation this year, we may have to finesse more and we may have to throw the ball a lot more. We’ll probably be in the shotgun more and (will run) the spread.”

“This summer, we had really productive 7-on-7s and I feel really confident in our receivers,” Shirreffs said. “We’ve got seven or eight guys I feel comfortable throwing to. I think we will be more pass-oriented, but we’re going to run, too. We’ll work a lot out with a spread look. I’m projecting that we’ll have smart but inexperienced line that will gain experience quickly. I’m sure teams are going to blitz a lot, which is why I’ve been running a lot in the offseason.”

Tight end Donnie Hatfield, flanker McKay Dickens and slotback Isaiah Blake figure to be Shirreffs’ top targets. The Dragons’ running attack is still a work in progress, McFerrin said, owing to an injury to top returning back Tristan Jackson, who may not be ready when the season begins.

“We’ve got some talented offensive players and they’ll be good — I just hope that will be this year,” McFerrin said. “We don’t have great speed so we’ve got to be patient and be able to move the chains. Maybe we’ll try a shorter passing game. We’ll just see.”

Shirreffs added that with a cohesive senior class and a community that has always supported the school and team, he’s looking forward to getting started.

“I’m extremely excited,” he said. “In the past years, we’ve had great senior classes but we haven’t had a ton of leadership. Everybody’s bought in to what we’re doing now in the program. This senior class is very close and we’re ready to get on with the season. The school is behind us and the community is behind us and we’ve got a lot of camaraderie and school pride.”